Stardust Revolution
by Gold Saint Mu
Summary: The same attack doesn't work twice against a Saint. So how can they get any fighting done, really? Aside from straight up beatings when the supers are all out on the table. Mu's Master teachers him how to counter this predicament.


**Stardust Revolution**

Mu skipped along behind his Master because he'd been told not to levitate all the time. Between levitation and teleportation, Mu wasn't particularly worried about falling off the narrow bridge and being impaled by one of the rocky spikes. They arrived at their tower in Jamir.

The Pope affectionately touched the stone wall. He had grown up here, unlike Mu who had been taken to Sanctuary early on, and had many fond memories of the place.

"Today, you will learn the Aries ultimate attack: Stardust Revolution," said the Pope.

Mu smiled pleasantly. He liked learning, and it didn't matter what he learned. He could be learning algebra or Chinese and would still be happy. Last time, he had learned the Aries ultimate defense: Crystal Wall.

It was always funny to see his Master's demonstration of techniques. After all, he couldn't use much power in his attacks because of Mu's inexperience. At least these were Gold-Saint-Aries-specific so weren't quite as silly as something like proper punching techniques. It wasn't too different from holding his hand to teach him to write though. Everything was funny to Mu in one way or another, everything a little pastel.

Mu half-hummed, half-sang: "The world looks mighty good to me 'cause tootsie rolls are all I see."

The Pope ignited his brilliant Cosmos. It was very sparkly. He raised his arm and space seemed to open up behind him. The ram flashed in that way it tended to. As always, Mu waved at it. Luckily, his Master was used to his peculiar ways now and didn't become distracted by the adorableness of his young student. Meteorites shot out from that space like fireworks and struck the cliffside. Mu clapped enthusiastically.

"Again, again!" he begged. His Master obliged him and moved slower this time so that Mu could get a better look at the technique. Mu leaped up from where he was sitting.

"My turn!" He raised both his arms as if to signal victory. Cute little comets shot out of the space created by his cosmos. They glittered the way crystals tended to and then burst into fireworks upon contact with the stone.

His Master shook his head but smiled. "That wasn't quite right. That was more like a Crystal Wall."

"Crystal Comet!" Mu said enthusiastically and nodded.

"Yes, I suppose it was. But let's try for a Stardust Revolution this time." The Pope lobbied a few meteorites into the air and let Mu bring them down as stardust. It took a while for Mu to resist the temptation to simply use his natural psychokinetic abilities.

Eventually, when Mu tired, he climbed into his Master's lap. Like many of the people training to become Saints, Mu was an orphan. The Pope served as both teacher and foster father. Mu took off the mask that hid his Master's aged face. There was something more mysterious and eternal about a man who didn't change. Mu traced the wrinkles on his Master's face. There were so many of them, some from worrying, some from frowning, but also some from smiling. There were small ones and thin ones, deep ones and colored ones.

"The same attack can't be used on a Saint twice, right?" Mu said as he turned to playing with his Master's hair. The Pope nodded. "Then how would we spar with one another?"

"Let's play badminton," the Pope suggested.

Mu was young enough that he didn't find the sudden change in subject strange. He hopped up and eagerly set up a net. His Master summoned their badminton rackets and a feathered shuttlecock. Before long, they were pleasantly playing. And then the game became more challenging. Mu pouted. It wasn't really fair because his teacher was quite a bit taller than him. Eventually, Mu couldn't help but to use his psychokinesis.

"What's the most deadly attack in badminton?" his Master asked him.

"Smash!" Mu followed up by doing exactly that. His Master blocked, causing the bird to pop up for another smash. Again, his Master blocked.

"The special attacks of Saints aren't so different from the attacks in badminton." His Master smashed, and even with his psychokinetic powers, Mu wasn't able to block it in time. Mu's eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated on stopping his Master's next smash but failed once again. "Why is it so hard for you to stop my smashes?"

"Because you're taller!" Mu said with a pout.

"You have psychokinesis."

"It's not working. You're too fast." Mu looked at him suspiciously. "Are you using your psychokinesis?"

"No." The Pope caught the shuttlecock and circled the net to Mu, who levitated to be at eye level with him as a strange sort of way to make up for losing the match. "The same attack doesn't work on a Saint twice because we can see through it. We move at light speed and can see just as keenly. During the match, you always smashed to the middle. Most people will play a middle game because that's how our minds work. When I smashed to the sides, you weren't expecting it so you couldn't catch the bird even with your psychokinesis."

"Smash to the sides? But that's hard."

"Yes. Most of the time, being right-handed, we'll attack to the right of our opponent because we're hitting forehand." The Pope held up a finger. "But that is exactly why it works. The other person isn't expecting it."

"Can't I just stand to the very left so all the hits are on my right?"

"You can try, but even when you do, it's hard to stay that way and not fumble. Also, if you're too far left, you leave your rightmost spot vulnerable."

"So what you're saying is I shouldn't throw my meteorites at the same place all the time," Mu guessed.

"Precisely!" His Master ruffled his hair. "You can vary them in the same way you vary your smashes. You can smash when the bird is high or you can smash when the bird's fallen a little lower. Also, as I said about playing a middle game, most people will attack you in the middle. But you can smash at a 45-degree angle or a 20-degree angle and the results are very different." He moved the bird as he spoke to illustrate his point.

"Getting hit on top of the head is different from getting hit in the face, but it still hurts." The Pope bopped the bird on top of Mu's head and then on the nose.

Mu was thoughtful and teleported the bird out of his Master's hand. He tossed it into the air and tried a couple smashes to the corners and edges. Their psychokinetic powers tended to be the main reason they only used one bird instead of a whole canister.

"I get it," Mu said finally.

"Good. After you've mastered the Stardust Revolution, we'll practice varying it."

"Too bad Saints can't compete in the Olympics," Mu said wistfully.

The Pope smiled. "That's why we hold our own tournaments."


End file.
